Charge Cars finds new owners to resume development of its ’67 bespoke electric muscle car
UK EV startup Charge Cars has announced a fresh breath of life into its bespoke electric muscle car business. The company has announced new ownership, which intends to continue and expedite the development of its flagship model, the ’67, based on a classic Ford Mustang.
Charge Cars emerged as a startup in 2016 and is headquartered a few minutes outside London. The company’s initial goal has been to develop and deliver its flagship product, the ’67 EV, as seen below. The ’67 is based on the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback and required a license from the American automaker to use its body components.
The company previously shared plans to build only 499 examples of this electric muscle car, but almost a decade later, potential customers are still waiting.
While we have been following Charge Cars for some time, there’s a reason we haven’t covered the company. Its flagship BEV is cool as hell but has always given us the feeling that it runs on pure vapor. Most startups can build a prototype, but as we always say, scaling is hard.
There’s no better evidence of this struggle than the news that came out of Charge Cars HQ in May 2024, stating that it had entered administration in the UK and a licensed insolvency practitioner, in this case, Mark Smith and Stephen Cork of Cork Gully LLP, were appointed as administrators to handle the business, its affairs, and intellectual property.
The options were to sell off pieces of the business or try to salvage it with fresh investors interested in taking over. Lucky for Charge Cars, a group of private investors has come to the rescue and will try to pick up where the original owners left off in developing and delivering a bespoke electric muscle car.
Charge hopes to live on and deliver its electric muscle car
According to a press release published from the UK early this morning, a consortium of private investors has acquired Charge Cars. It plans to expedite the final development of the ’67 electric muscle car at a new state-of-the-art global headquarters based in Silverstone, UK. Paul Abercrombie, who took over as Charge CEO last November, spoke about the new ownership and the opportunities it will bring the British EV startup:
On behalf of the consortium, I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Charge Cars. The ‘67 establishes a new class of EV – and we will now accelerate final development at our new global HQ in Silverstone, UK, rapidly delivering this exciting luxury vehicle to customers. The Charge brand has huge global potential, and we look forward to revealing more details very soon.
While we now know the future of Charge Cars’ electric muscle car is in the hands of this consortium at a new headquarters, the rest of its plans remain private for now. We do not know if the new owners will stick to the original production targets of 499 builds or go smaller or larger.
From what we can tell, the specs of the ’67 will remain the same as the reborn startup works through its final development stage, as outlined above. The electric muscle car based on a classic Ford has a 63 kWh battery that delivers 200 miles of range and powers quad motors that can reach 400 kW of peak power (1,520 Nm of torque). The BEV can travel 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and recharge at a DC rate of up to 50 kW.
Charge Cars promises to reveal future plans “imminently.” Check back with Electrek soon.
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The BYD Shenzen, its new ro-ro ship that can carry 9,200 vehicles, has officially undocked. BYD’s new car carrier is the world’s largest as the EV giant aggressively expands overseas. After sales surged last year, the Chinese EV leader looks for even more global market share in 2025.
BYD Shenzen undocks as the world’s largest car carrier
BYD sold a record 4.25 million new energy vehicles (NEVs) last year, over 40% more than it did in 2023. That includes electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
Although several automakers have yet to release full-year sales results, BYD is expected to outsell several global auto leaders, such as Ford, Honda, and Nissan. Meanwhile, this year could be even bigger for China’s largest automaker.
According to a new report from China News Service (via IT Home), the BYD Shenzen, the company’s fourth ro-ro (roll-on/Roll-off) ship, finished undocking and is ready to set sail.
BYD’s new car carrier is the world’s largest, capable of transporting up to 9,200 vehicles. Since 2024, BYD has launched four ro-ro ships as it expands into new overseas markets.
The first, the BYD Explorer No 1, was launched in January 2024. It has already completed several trips to Europe, including Spain and Germany, and also docked in Brazil.
BYD’s second (BYD Changzhou) was put into operation in early December 2024, followed by the BYD Hefei, which set sail last week. All three can carry up to 7,000 vehicles.
The Hefei hit the seas last week, carrying 5,000 NEVs. BYD said the vessel will “accelerate the internationalization process of China’s new energy vehicles.”
The BYD Shenzen, named after its hometown, is not only the world’s largest but also the most environmentally friendly. According to the report, the new ship includes BYD box-type battery packs and shaft-belt generators for the first time.
Electrek’s Take
BYD has already entered 100 countries and regions globally, but it’s poised for even more growth in 2025. After producing over 1.77 million vehicles last year, BYD topped Tesla by about 4,500 units to become the world’s largest EV maker.
Meanwhile, Tesla delivered slightly more fully electric vehicles, with 1.78 million in 2024, compared to BYD’s 1.76 million.
With an influx of new rivals in China, BYD is aggressively expanding into new overseas. After entering Japan in 2023, a market dominated by domestic automakers, BYD sold more EVs than Toyota in 2024.
After launching its first EV in South Korea this week, starting at just over $20,000, BYD will now challenge Hyundai and Korea on their home turf.
BYD’s growing presence is forcing legacy automakers to take drastic actions to keep up. After falling behind, Japan’s Nissan and Honda are now teaming up on EVs to fend off BYD’s surge.
In Thailand, or the “Detroit of Asia,” as it’s called, Japanese automakers have watched their market share fall from 90% to just 76% over the past two years amid BYD’s growing presence.
With new vehicles launching in Mexico, Brazil, Europe, Singapore, Thailand, and many more regions this year, BYD is poised for more growth in 2025.
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Rivian’s (RIVN) stock is trending on Friday after Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume hinted at expanding upon their new EV partnership. Volkswagen’s boss said the company could offer “great opportunities” for Rivian. Here’s what the new plans could include.
Rivian stock climbs on Volkswagen EV partnership plans
After launching their new joint venture in November, “Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC,” Volkswagen is already looking to expand its partnership with the EV startup.
Blume told German news outlet Spiegel that “The Volkswagen Group offers great opportunities for a small brand like Rivian” on Friday. For example, Volkswagen’s head honcho said, “We are thinking about sharing modules and bundling purchasing volumes.”
Volkswagen already plans to invest up to $5.8 billion in the collaboration, which, according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, is a “meaningful financial opportunity.”
So far, the partnership is mainly software support. Rivian is using its software expertise to develop a new EV architecture to power up new SDV (software-defined) electric vehicles.
Rivian already uses the platform and software stack, which consists of seven control units. Volkswagen models typically have over 100 of these units. The next steps could involve a joint purchase, deepening the VW/ Rivian EV alliance.
The architecture is designed to cut costs and speed up output. According to the report, a new ultra-luxury three-row Porsche electric SUV, codenamed “K1” internally, and the electric Golf successor will be among the first EVs to feature the new architecture.
Audi, Porsche, and the upcoming Scout brand for the US will use the new tech. Scout will launch an off-road electric SUV and pickup built at Volkswagen’s new plant in South Carolina from 2027.
The news comes after Rivian closed a loan agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday for up to $6.6 billion in funding for its new EV plant in Georgia.
Rivian’s second manufacturing plant will house its midsize R2 and R3 electric models. The smaller, more affordable electric SUV and crossover will also benefit from the Volkswagen alliance.
On Friday, Rivian stock trended up over 5% after Volkswagen’s Blume hinted at expanding the new EV partnership. Since reporting third-quarter earnings in November, RIVN shares are up over 57%. However, they are still down nearly 10% over the past 12 months.
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Police have seized an imported Tesla Cybertruck in the UK as it is not road-legal in the country and deemed dangerous for pedestrians.
Tesla has always known that its Cybertruck design would be complicated to get homologated in other markets than North America, where the rules are similar between the US, Canada, and Mexico. The company admitted that it might limit the markets where Cybertruck would be sold, which is why Tesla doesn’t plan to expand beyond current markets.
However, it hasn’t stopped people from privately importing Cybertrucks to their home markets.
We have seen two Cybertrucks traveling through Europe, and they were stopped at Lithuanian customs due to suspicions that they were going to Russia.
Sure enough, Russian warlord and Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov took delivery of Cybertrucks and outfitted them with machine guns a few months later and then claimed that they joined the war effort in Ukraine.
Other Cybertrucks made their way to other markets like China.
Now, we learn that one has made it to the UK, but it didn’t last long.
The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) announced that the seized the Cybertruck pictured above that was roaming the streets in the UK illegally. They wrote on social media:
Whilst this may seem trivial to some, legitimate concerns exist around the safety of other road users or pedestrians if they were involved in a collision with the Cybertruck.
Tesla had brought the vehicle in the UK, but only for demonstration. It never tried to make it legal in the country.
The police added:
The Tesla Cybertruck is not road-legal in the UK and does not hold a certificate of conformity.
The authorities said that the Cybertruck was registered and insured abroad, but the driver was a UK resident. They will have to show prove of ownership and insurance to release the vehicle.
Electrek’s Take
The authorities are clearly right here since the vehicle is not road-legal currently, but could it be road-legal? It’s hard to say.
The police here repeat claims that the Cybertruck might be dangerous for pedestrians in crashes. That has been a concern that has often been raised since the truck launched in 2023.
It looks obvious based on the design of the Cybertruck. However, we haven’t seen third-party crash testing of the Cybertruck yet, and it might take a while before we do.
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